Sacred groves in southern eastern ghats, India: Are they better managed than forest reserves?

We test the generally held belief that sacred forests are better managed than forest reserves. Towards this end, tree diversity, population structure and their relation to site disturbances were studied in five replicate stands each of sacred forests and reference reserve forests in southern Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh. In each of the study sites, two belt transects of size 5 x 1000 m were laid down randomly for assessing tree species. A total of 7836 trees belonging to 158 species were inventoried in all the stands. The stands in the sacred forests were more diverse, had higher basal area, and showed fewer signs of disturbance than the reference forest stands, supporting the view that local communities afford better protection and management to sacred groves. We suggest that the long-term sustenance of biodiversity in sacred forest sites require an integrated approach involving local communities as well the government sector.